Permission was granted for just 1,604 houses and apartments in the first quarter of the year, compared with 2,308 in the same period of 2013.

The lack of new homes due to come onto the market will put further upward pressure on prices, which have risen by 8.5pc in the capital, where demand for family-sized homes is highest.

Just 486 units were approved in Dublin, figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show, with just 26 in Cork city and 16 in Galway city where demand is also strong.

The figures fall far short of the 16,000 units which the Housing Agency says are needed every year to meet demand.

Sharp drop

The Planning Permissions Quarter 1 report also found:

* Permission was granted for 1,446 homes in the first three months of the year, compared with 1,860 in the same period of 2013, a drop of 22pc.

* There was also a sharp drop in permissions for apartments, which fell to 158 from 448, down almost 65pc.

* More than half of all house permissions are for one-off units.

* No units were approved in Limerick city, and just one in Waterford city and one in Co Leitrim.

* Permission for 1,396 extensions were approved.

* In total, some 74 commercial buildings were approved.

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) warned that a lack of finance to build developments, coupled with a lack of permissions for houses, meant many families would be unable to purchase a new home in the short term.

"There's not going to be enough supply to meet the demand in the market," a spokesman said.

"Until barriers to supply are dealt with, this problem isn't gong to get better any time soon.

"There is planning permission for 30,000 units in Dublin, but 21,000 are for apartments. The market doesn't require apartments.

"There's problems with finance, and the cost of building is too high. Until all those issues are dealt with we're not going to see more supply coming through."